The French make some exquisite cheese from hard long-aged cheese like gruyere and fontina to soft buttery cheese like camembert and brie. With a thick white rind, the brie cheese is high in fat and made from cow’s milk. The white rind around the brie is edible and in fact a delicacy. The cheese shares its origins with farmhouse Seine-et-Marne which is also a French cheese. For trivia, farmhouse or farmstead cheese is the kind of cheese that is made at the same place, where the cow is milked.
Brie makes use of raw milk, which makes it illegal in many countries. After about sixty days the cheese is sufficiently aged for it to be safely edible and can be sold in other countries. Unlike other cheese from the region, Brie has a sweet earthy aroma. It can be substituted for Camembert, Brillat-Savarin, Saint-Andre, and Mt Tam.
The taste too is much like the aroma - earthy, citrusy, and fruity with sometimes even a runny texture. Besides the cylinder version, it also sold round balls like mozzarella.
Where to use brie?
Brie is a superb addition to a cheese plate or charcuterie board. But the best part about brie is great in desserts and baked goodies like tarts, pies, and soufflés.
Also amazing in sandwiches, panini, pasta (but not pizza), and casseroles.
How to store brie?
Brie is a wonderful cheese with quite a personality; it becomes fruity and sweeter with time. But if you keep it stored for too long, it goes bad and all those delightful fruity flavors turn yucky. So keep it in the fridge for no longer than 4 weeks and cover it in paper instead of plastic wrap. You can however freeze it for up to three months. It is a soft cheese, so if you detect mold discard it immediately.